Sec. 204. Critical material metallurgy financing
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The Secretary of Energy shall establish in the Department of Energy a program to provide Federal financial assistance to covered entities to incentivize investment in covered facilities, subject to the availability of appropriations for that purpose. A covered entity seeking financial assistance under this subsection shall submit to the Secretary an application that describes the project for which the covered entity is seeking financial assistance. In order for a covered entity to qualify for financial assistance under this subsection, the covered entity shall demonstrate to the Secretary, in the application submitted by the covered entity under subparagraph (A), that— the covered entity has a documented interest in— constructing a covered facility; or expanding or technologically upgrading a facility owned by the covered entity to be a covered facility; and with respect to the project for which the covered entity is seeking financial assistance, the covered entity has— been offered a covered incentive; made commitments to worker and community investment, including through— training and education benefits paid by the covered entity; and programs to expand employment opportunity for economically disadvantaged individuals; secured commitments from regional educational and training entities and institutions of higher education to provide workforce training, including programming for training and job placement of economically disadvantaged individuals; and an executable plan to sustain a covered facility without additional Federal financial assistance under this subsection for facility support.
The Secretary may not approve an application submitted by a covered entity under subparagraph (A)— unless the Secretary— confirms that the covered entity has satisfied the eligibility criteria under subparagraph (B); determines that the project for which the covered entity is seeking financial assistance is in the interest of the United States; and has notified the appropriate committees of Congress not later than 15 days before making any commitment to provide an award of financial assistance to any covered entity in an amount that exceeds $10,000,000; or if the Secretary determines, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, that the covered entity is a foreign entity of concern.
In reviewing an application submitted by a covered entity under subparagraph (A), the Secretary may consider whether— the covered entity has previously received financial assistance under this subsection; the governmental entity offering the applicable covered incentive has benefitted from financial assistance previously provided under this subsection; the covered entity has demonstrated that the covered entity is responsive to the national security needs or requirements established by the intelligence community (or an agency thereof), the National Nuclear Security Administration, or the Department of Defense; if practicable, a consortium that is considered a covered entity includes a small business concern (as defined under section 3 of the Small Business Act ( 15 U.S.C. 632 )), notwithstanding section 121.103 of title 13, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations); and the covered entity intends to produce finished products for use by the Department of Defense, the defense industry of the United States, or critical energy infrastructure.
To the maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall prioritize awarding financial assistance under this subsection to a covered entity that intends to make finished products available for use by the Department of Defense, the defense industry of the United States, or critical energy infrastructure. The Secretary may request records and information from a covered entity that submitted an application under subparagraph
(A)to review the status of a covered entity. As a condition of receiving assistance under this subsection, a covered entity shall provide the records and information requested by the Secretary under clause (i). The Secretary shall determine the appropriate amount and funding type for each financial assistance award provided to a covered entity under this subsection. The total amount of financial assistance that may be guaranteed by the Secretary under this subsection shall be not more than 100 percent of the private capital investment available to a covered entity for any individual project. The total Federal investment in any individual project receiving a financial assistance award under this subsection shall be not less than $20,000,000. The total Federal investment in any individual project receiving a financial assistance award under this subsection shall not exceed $500,000,000, unless the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of Defense and the Director of National Intelligence, recommends to the President, and the President certifies and reports to the appropriate committees of Congress, that a larger investment is necessary— to significantly increase the proportion of reliable domestic supply of finished critical material products relevant for national security and economic competitiveness that can be met through domestic production; and to meet the needs of national security. A covered entity that receives a financial assistance award under this subsection may only use the financial assistance award amounts— to finance the construction of a covered facility (including equipment) or the expansion or technological upgrade of a facility (including equipment) of the covered entity to be a covered facility, as documented in the application submitted by the covered entity under paragraph (2)(A), as determined necessary by the Secretary for purposes relating to the national security and economic competitiveness of the United States; to support workforce development for a covered facility; and to support site development and technological upgrade for a covered facility. For all financial assistance awards provided to covered entities under this subsection, the Secretary shall, at the time of making the award, determine the target dates by which a covered entity shall commence and complete the applicable project. If the covered entity receiving a financial assistance award under this subsection does not complete the applicable project by the applicable target date determined under clause (i), the Secretary shall progressively recover up to the full amount of the award. In the case of projects that do not meet the applicable target date determined under clause (i), the Secretary may waive the requirement to recover the financial award provided for the project under clause
(ii)after making a formal determination that circumstances beyond the ability of the covered entity to foresee or control are responsible for the delay. Not later than 15 days after making a determination to recover an award under clause (ii), the Secretary shall notify the appropriate committees of Congress of the intent of the Secretary to recover the award. Not later than 15 days after the date on which the Secretary provides a waiver under clause (iii), the Secretary shall notify the appropriate committees of Congress of the waiver. Before entering into an agreement with a foreign entity to conduct joint research or technology licensing, or to share intellectual property, a covered entity that has received a financial assistance award under this subsection— shall notify the Secretary of the intent to enter into such an agreement; and may only enter into such an agreement if the Secretary determines the foreign entity is not a foreign entity of concern. On receiving a notification under clause (i), the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, shall make a determination of whether the applicable foreign entity is a foreign entity of concern. The Secretary shall recover the full amount of a financial assistance award provided to a covered entity under this subsection if, during the applicable term of the award, the covered entity knowingly engages in any joint research, technology licensing, intellectual property sharing effort, or joint venture with a foreign entity of concern that relates to a technology or product that raises national security concerns, as determined by the Secretary, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, the Director of the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, and the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on the condition that the determination of the Secretary shall have been communicated to the covered entity before the covered entity engaged in the joint research, technology licensing, or intellectual property sharing. A covered entity to which the Secretary awards Federal financial assistance under this subsection shall enter into an agreement that specifies that, during the 5-year period immediately following the award of the Federal financial assistance, the covered entity will not make shareholder distributions in excess of profits. In carrying out the program established under subsection (a), the Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary of State, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, and the Director of National Intelligence. The Comptroller General of the United States shall— not later than 2 years after the date of disbursement of the first financial award under the program established under subsection (a), and biennially thereafter for 10 years, conduct a review of the program, which shall include, at a minimum— a determination of the number of financial assistance awards provided under the program during the period covered by the review; an evaluation of how— the program is being carried out, including how recipients of financial assistance awards are being selected under the program; and other Federal programs are leveraged for manufacturing, research, and training to complement the financial assistance awards provided under the program; and a description of the outcomes of projects supported by financial assistance awards provided under the program, including a description of— covered facilities that were constructed or facilities that were expanded or technologically upgraded to be covered facilities as a result of financial assistance awards provided under the program; workforce training programs carried out with financial assistance awards provided under the program, including efforts to hire individuals from disadvantaged populations; and the impact of projects receiving financial assistance awards under the program on the United States share of global finished critical material product production; and submit to the appropriate committees of Congress the results of each review conducted under paragraph (1). There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section— $750,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 and 2026; and $200,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2027 through 2029. In this section: The term covered entity means a private entity, a consortium of private entities, or a consortium of public and private entities, with a demonstrated ability to substantially finance, construct, expand, or technologically upgrade a covered facility. The term covered facility means a facility located in a State that carries out the metallurgy or recycling of critical materials for the production of critical material products. The term covered incentive means— an incentive offered by a Federal, State, local, or Tribal governmental entity to a covered entity for the purposes of— constructing within the jurisdiction of the governmental entity a covered facility; or expanding or technologically upgrading an existing facility within that jurisdiction to be a covered facility; and a workforce-related incentive (including a grant agreement relating to workforce training or vocational education), any concession with respect to real property, funding for research and development with respect to critical materials and finished critical material products, and any other incentive determined appropriate by the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of State. The term finished critical material product means a product composed of significant quantities of critical materials, including— metals; alloys; and permanent magnets. The term private capital has the meaning given the term in section 103 of the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 ( 15 U.S.C. 662 ). The term State means— each of the several States of the United States; the District of Columbia; the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico; Guam; American Samoa; the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands; the Federated States of Micronesia; the Republic of the Marshall Islands; the Republic of Palau; and the United States Virgin Islands.
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